 Blue mist spiraea (Caryopteris x clandonensis) grows up to 2 feet tall by 2 to 3 feet wide. Treasured for its numerous vivid blue flowers that appear in late summer and early fall they are great for attracting butterflies and bees. The variety named ‘Dark Knight’ has indigo blue blossoms and it can grow larger than the blue mist variety—up to 3 to 4 feet tall by 4 to 6 feet wide.
Once established, this drought-tolerant shrub is hardy in Zones 5 through 9, and it drops its leaves in winter. Blue mist spiraea looks particularly good planted with asters, bellflowers, black-eyed Susans, butterfly bush, coneflowers, coreopsis, hollyhocks, sedums, or perennial grasses such as miscanthus and blue fescue.
Here’s how to keep blue mist spiraea happy:
• Give at least 6 hours of full direct sun daily.
• Plant in well-drained soil with plenty of sand or gravel mixed in. Blue mist spiraea likes Santa Fe’s alkaline soil, but it does not like heavy clay.
• Add ¼ cup balanced fertilizer to the hole at time of planting (1/2 cup if the plant is 5-gallon container size or larger). Alternatively, once the plant is in the ground, water it in with a solution of root stimulator.
• Water deeply twice a week for the first season.
• In winter, mulch the blue mist spiraea with 2 to 3 inches of straw or other mulch.
• In early spring, before new leaves appear, cut the plant back to 1 foot above the ground. This shrub blossoms on new sprouts, so cutting it back in spring will produce lots of new stems for a better floral show.
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Plant of the Week: Blue Mist Spiraea
